USWNT star Trinity Rodman’s pink braids are the epitome of knowing you’re 'that girl'

Pink hair ain’t for everybody. It has nothing to do with the supposed compatibility between a person’s complexion and the shade of the strands that sprout from the head, and it has even less to do with cut or style.

Pink hair ain’t for everybody simply because not everybody can pull it off - and that’s because the sole prerequisite for nailing the look is gall, the wily relative of confidence that yawns at the status quo, can’t be bothered to ask for permission, and thrives in environments where it can act on raw instinct.

Gall, it just so happens, is also a prerequisite to being a star athlete.

That’s not to suggest 22-year-old U.S. women’s national team forward Trinity Rodman didn’t at least consider the optics of her bold choice. It was no small thing to debut a loud hairstyle at the sendoff to her first Olympic Games - one in which the expectations of the USWNT were both strained by their loss at the 2023 World Cup, yet buoyed by the introduction of new head coach Emma Hayes.

Nobody would begrudge Rodman for shunning an impulse for flamboyance to preserve an air of being All About the Business at a time like this. And yet, rather than play it safe, Rodman presumably thought, “Why not now?”

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Rodman’s been playing with braids since last December, when she hard-launched a set of cornrows that cascaded into single box braids down her shoulders. She opted for a sensible palette that time, sandy-brown flecked with golden strands, more or less reflective of her own hair color.

But once she broke the seal, Rodman hasn’t appeared to look back. In May, she introduced us to her alter ego with a high-voltage, nearly-platinum blonde look made all the edgier when contrasted against her darker roots. She entered a redhead phase with her braids the following month, essentially rounding out the last of the “natural” hair tones. The only place left to venture was color.

And why not pink? As Jane Boddy of the Pantone Color Institute reminds us, pink is a color rarely found in nature, yet its psychological and emotional qualities are deeply resonant.

“The desire to feel profound joy and optimism are key priorities for the foreseeable future,” Boddy writes. “Pink fulfills these needs with great vigor. Pink cannot fail to delight, bringing a positive emotional response; it stimulates the senses in a way like no other color.”

Cannot fail to delight. Brings a positive emotional response. Is there a more apt description for the after-effect of a blush-hued Trin Spin?

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“Pink is slightly aloof, it won’t be pinned down,” Boddy continues. “Being both feminine and masculine, modern and playful, refined and expressive, it’s this enigmatic quality that keeps the conversation going, six years on after the launch of Pantone 13-1520 Rose Quartz.”

Fittingly, it was Rodman’s everlasting spirit of “Why not?” that kept the USWNT in the conversation for Olympic medal contention when she scored a go-ahead banger against Japan in the waning minutes of extra time on Saturday in the quarterfinals.

The match had been a slog since kickoff, with the US looking particularly gassed. With her pink braids wound back into two long French plaits, Rodman looked spent for the first time all tournament. Her touches had gone askew, she struggled to transition back to the attacking third after putting in a defensive shift, and against Japan’s stifling low block, there didn’t appear to be a satisfying end in sight for anyone involved.

After receiving a pinpoint long ball from Crystal Dunn following 105 minutes of heavy-legged strife, Rodman had no business firing off that curling left-footed shot from such an acute angle in the penalty box, shattering the side netting. But she did have the gall.

How fitting that the moment was witnessed by Megan Rapinoe, a formerly pink-haired legend of the USWNT whom Rodman regularly cites as both a mentor and an inspiration on and off the pitch.

No matter what fate holds for the USWNT, that goal will be enshrined in the team’s history and will always be viewed through a rose-tinted lens. But look closely as Rodman zooms up and down the flank. The hair in her braids has a subtle ombré effect, and toward the ends, they transition from pink to a more yellow, blonder shade. Some might interpret that shade as more akin to gold.